Stanley Tucci Reflects on Horrible Effects of Cancer Despite Recovery: 'I Couldn't Swallow Food'

Stanley Tucci was not afraid of death after learning his cancer diagnosis, but he still suffered so much due to its aftereffects.

It was already three years since Tucci underwent treatments and procedures to beat cancer. At that time, he braved his health issues and continued filming "Stanley Tucci: Searching for Italy."

Although he already triumphed against the disease that claimed the life of his loving wife, he could still clearly recall what happened during those days.

In a new interview with New York Times (via Us Weekly), the 61-year-old actor called his radiation therapy something horrible.

While it helped him to recover, Tucci suffered from the heart-wrenching effects of the treatment. He reportedly experienced vertigo, mouth ulcers, and loss of appetite after three sessions of therapy.

Stanley Tucci Losing Normalcy

Only one week after, he reportedly began tasting "wet cardboard slathered with someone's excrement." For Tucci, people cannot enjoy anything else if they cannot eat and enjoy food. Unfortunately, he faced that fate, as well.

"It was hard because I could taste everything, but I couldn't necessarily swallow," he said. "I had to chew it for 10 minutes to get it down my throat ... [sometimes] I just had to get rid of the food."

His health status made it hard for him to film his CNN culinary series. For instance, he knew that he cooked an awful risotto for his "Supernova" co-star, Colin Firth. But the actor replied to him and disagreed with his statement.

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Firth, on the other hand, revealed how distressing it was for Tucci as he needed to put on a brave face all the time.

Stanley Tucci Continued Living His Life Amid Cancer Battle

Despite his worsening issues that time, Tucci went on to sign another contract to extend his CNN series. Instead of giving up, he hoped to continue serving the show until everything could be back to normal again.

"There was no way I wasn't going to make it," he said. "I've wanted to tell for a long time the story of Italy and the disparate cuisine in every region."

Amid his recovery, some cooking shows reportedly made him throw up with the smell of the food alone. Still, he continued watching them learn more to prepare himself for doing the show again.

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